A Family Tradition
by Reija Linn
Summary: That slash gene just seems to run in the Weasley family line... I for one have read slash stories about each and every Weasley, except for Molly. Hm...


Title: A Family Tradition  
Author: Reija Linn (T'Reija)  
Email/Feedback: theganan@gmx.de or thiari@theganan.de  
Archive: ff-net. Others please ask beforehand and leave the full header intact.  
Originally posted: hpslash list  
  
Pairing: various m/m pairings, very mild  
Rating: [G]  
Summary: That slash gene just seems to run in the Weasley family line... I for one have read slash stories about each and every Weasley, except for Molly. Hm...  
Spoilers: Haven't read the books? Do so. Right away. Do not eat, sleep or pause until you're finished. Then come back.  
Warnings: male/male sexuality and/or relationship(s) featured within. Don't like, don't read, don't flame. Simple really, though seemingly not simple enough for some dim witted clots out there.  
  
Legal disclaimer: I never have, nor ever will, owned the rights to the setting of the Harry Potter books or the characters featured within. The use of said settings and characters by me is for non-commercial purposes only and does not mean to infringe upon the given legal rights that belong to Ms. J.K.Rowling and those she has associated them with.  
  
  
A FAMILY TRADITION  
By T'Reija (October 2001)  
  
I should have seen it coming. Oh yes. Especially during that summer last year, when Harry was staying with us. Still, it came as a surprise when my youngest son came up to me today and told me, with much stuttering and blushing, that he and Harry were together.  
  
And of course, as a shock. Almost a miracle, but I'm still shocked.  
  
Not because I think it's wrong. If I did, I wouldn't have married Arthur after that affair he'd had with Lucius Malfoy back when we were in fifth grade. None of our children know this, of course, not even Bill or Charlie, and we intend to keep it thus (unless they ask. perhaps.). They had their affair, it didn't work out, Arthur and I fell in love, and it's okay. So what if Arthur occasionally looks over my shoulder when I'm scanning through Witch' Weekly's pages of 'moste handsome wizards' or 'moste dashing smiles'? If I can, so can he, and it's just looking. And I know he loves me and doesn't need anything or anyone else.  
  
When Bill told me, I wasn't that surprised. He'd never shown much interest in girls, and he was self-confident enough to come to me right away, when he and his first boyfriend had wanted to spend their summer holidays together. He'd just asked whether Ricky could stay over for half the hol's, and if he could go to Ricky's place for the other half, and by the way, mum, just in case you're wondering, yeah, we're a couple. And I was happy for him. He'd known I'd react like that, somehow he'd always been the most empathic of my sons. Perhaps because he always had to be the first to do anything, since he was the eldest, or perhaps because I myself was so much younger then. I had Bill when I was nineteen. A young mother, and I guess it's easier telling your thirty-five year old mum something like that than your fifty-something mother-hen. Of course, when we had Bill, and even Charlie, Arthur and I were much different than we are now. We were younger, and full of ideals and hopes, but we also lived in a world that was threatened by the dark, by war, by death and intrigue. All the more important to hold family bonds strong, no matter what might happen, and to support each other in everything. For Bill to come to me with something like that was okay for him, since he knew I'd love him no matter who he loved (as long as it wasn't a Death Eater's son or something).  
  
With Charlie, it was just as easy, though it came a little later. He'd had quite a couple of girlfriends actually, during his time at Hogwarts, and he'd enjoyed those relationships, as he told me, but when he met Mark, he fell in love instantly. So Charlie is actually bisexual, like Arthur, but he's still together with his first boyfriend Mark, for more than seven years now, so it seems he's settled with one side like Arthur has with me. Being twenty-two when he'd met Mark (not having fallen in love with a boy before that) as well as having an older gay brother made it easy for him to tell me - at twenty-two, you're not quite as likely to think your mum will hate you for being gay, or bisexual, than you are during puberty.  
  
Then came Percy, and he seemed to be the first son who would carry on the family name by having a wife and kids. Not that that was important, at least not as important as knowing my children to be happy. But it was a nice thought. And it seemed quite realistic, for a while. Actually, Percy still thinks I believe he's with Penelope Clearwater. (As if I knew nothing about my children's whereabouts!) But he'll tell me, in time. When he has a long-term relationship perhaps. Though I wonder why he's hiding it. Surely, after Charlie and Bill, he knows I'm accepting? But then, perhaps he has other reasons? Oh well. He's old enough to know.  
  
Now, after three sons turning out to love men, I actually thought that nature would have made my other children heterosexual. Then the twins reached puberty (and I'm glad I have *that* behind me, these two were the most trying of all, and not only because they're 'double trouble', as Fred himself told me not so long ago) Actually, I did have to swallow hard when I found that one out. I remember that summer when their friend Lee Jordan was staying over, and Fred and he used to go off on their own, leaving George behind. Or actually, I think they did invite him, but George stayed behind sulking for one reason or the other. Until one day, when they were a happy threesome again. Now, as I said, I had to swallow hard at that. Unlike in the muggle word (and I know that because the half-muggle neighbour who told me she'd seen the three of them in the woods seemed very shocked) sexual relationships between twin wizards or witches aren't prohibited. It has something to do with a special kind of magic that applies to identical twins. Still, it was quite a shock (which was probably why they'd kept it from me. with them, I did the first step and told them it was alright.)  
  
Okay, that's five out of seven children. Six, after this afternoon.  
  
It's not that I have a problem with it, as I said. And neither, obviously, does Arthur. I'm glad if my children are happy with all their choices (in partners, obviously, not in orientations). And after all, I love men, too (or rather, let's say 'my man'). But somewhere, in the back of my mind, the part that wishes for grandchildren is still hoping that the obvious gene that runs through this family applies only to the male Weasleys. Or that, rather than a homo-/bisexual gene it is a definite I-love-men gene. At least, that way, Ginny will marry and have children.  
  
Though I did see her draw a heart around a name in one of her schoolbooks lately, and it wasn't Harry's. Actually, it had a suspicious similarity to the name 'Hermione'.  
  
But I could be mistaken. After all, with seven children, wouldn't statistics make a point *somewhere*?  
  
THE END 


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